It is a tradition to bring food to the family of the blessed at condolence visit in Turkey. There will be many visitors for condolence and some of them can be from different cities, and they may need something to eat. So neighbours cook for them as the family of the blessed will be too sad to deal with such stuff in general.

After the funeral some families prefer to arrange a prayer night in which a hodja reads parts from Quran for the blessed, and when the prayer finishes they serve braised meat & pilaf, then desserts like baklava or semolina halva to guests.

I know it's not a lovely subject to talk about. But you know... It's life... And food traditions of funerals are also a good topic to know.

Uncle Erol was not only one of the inheritors of the owner of our apartment but also he was our neighbour. So my mom cooked a few dishes for the family as being a neighbour and a dear family friend of them. Uncle Erol was a very loved person in the block and neighbourhood. You cannot imagine how many people came to visit his family for sympathies.

I also wanted to do something for Uncle Erol's soul. I'm not so good at cooking yet, so I decided to bake some cookies to serve the guests.

I prefered to bake a kind of shortbread as it keeps well and keeps one full with tea. I wanted to try a different version of my hazelnut shortbreads. I thought orange flavour may suit these cookies, and had a try. Result was like how I guessed: really tasteful.

Wishing you happy days to bake and share these cookies with people you love :)

1) Seperate white of one egg in a bowl.
2) Rub sugar and freshly grated orange peel well with your fingers. Combine butter, orange rubbed sugar, 1 whole egg, and 1 egg yolk in a mixing bowl well.
3) Blend flour and baking powder.
4) Add the flour mixture into batter slowly, and knead till you get a rather soft, non-sticky cookie dough.
5) Base the baking tray with parchment. Pre-heat oven to 180 C / 350-375 F.
6) Take a piece of dough in your palm. Round it, and first dip top of it in egg white, then in sesame seeds or cinnamon&sugar mixture or put one whole almond on top as shown in the photo. (You can size cookies with a coffee spoon, or as big as a whole walnut, or divide how you like.)
7) Place garnished side of cookies up on tray 1 inch apart.
8) Bake for about 45 min.s or until they get golden brown. Cool, and serve. They keep fresh for almost one month in airtight tins.